"Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops, like bishops, and your religious act like religious." - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, 1972

I never met Archbishop Flores but from how I perceive him from what people tell me and his photographs I see a real bishop of old school values. A man who would gain my respect by his very person. He looks like a statesman so dignified. We remember him on his anniversary born to Eternal life.I actually read this early today on Fr. Eric's page. Fr. Eric posts articles of history and biography which I enjoy reading. He also wrote a beautiful piece today on Sister Martinez and her religious life. I found it a very inspired as it shared the faith life a wonderful warm human being. Today because of Tony there is a danger to think that bishop's and priest's men and women religious are all like him. This is not the case. Archbishop Flores , and sister Martinez give us good examples of real men and women who lived their vocations so beautifully. They are inspiring others. They had good character and values. They were also old school priests and nuns and as is so often the case they were the best examples. Today we have the frivolous Tony celebrating his 70th as some wannabe. What a scandal,this is all becoming. Archbishop Flores must be turning in his grave. I'm surprised the Cathedral Basilica is not shaking!

In today's mass at agana, tony only talked about the birthday fundraiser and the 3 ways the money would be divided into. Not once did he say a prayer for archbishop flores. All tony asked was that the parishioners "please donate cause it's for a good cause". What a greedy Shepard he is.

Devout Catholic heard a different mass than I did. I listened to the archbishop's homily on the radio as I was getting ready to attend the 11:30 a.m. Sunday mass at the cathedral. The archbishop mentioned right away at the mass that today was Archbishop Flores' 30th death anniversary. He spoke of Archbishop Flores' travels for his ministries and of his illnesses towards the end of his life. The archbishop mentioned the flowers marking where Archbishop Flores is buried in our cathedral. I don't remember if our archbishop prayed for Archbishop Flores' soul later in the mass-he probably did-but a prayer for Archbishop Flores' soul was read during the Universal Prayers. I know that for a fact because when I lectored at the 11:30 a.m. mass I read the same prayer for the soul of Archbishop Flores when I read the Universal Prayers in front of the congregation. And I saw the flowers laying on Archbishop Flores' burial site in the sanctuary that our archbishop mentioned during his 9:30 a.m. mass.

I remember the day we found out that he had passed away. I was away at college at the time, and together with the other students from Guam, we offered mass for him and attended as a group. We cried when we shared the story with the priest. He was so impressed by how much the Archbishop's death affected us that he commented what an impressive man he must have been to inspire us so. Yes, he was a priest of the people. He took care of us and guided us. He was humble. He was loved.

The same definitely cannot be said of our current archbishop. He is not a priest of the people. He does not take care of us. He guides us, but not in the right direction. He epitomizes the opposite of humility. He is loved only by the Neo community. That he has allowed the malevolence of the Neocatecumenal Way to corrode our church will be his legacy.

I continue to pray that he will be removed and a non-Neo priest be appointed. Only then can we begin to heal the division that he and his merry band of Neos have caused.

It would've been nice to see something, even an excerpt of it in the UMatuna, and it does raise that question. Possible they just forgot?

Which would be a shame, given that this would've been a perfect opportunity to educate those of us born after his death of his accomplishments and contributions to the Archdiocese. They should also do a story on Bishop Baumgartner. He revived Guam's Catholic community during post-WWII, and Tony should have him to thank for that Catholic Charities Appeal he loves so much. Also, to the Diana's who praise the seminary as a production factory for priests, this one-man show upped the numbers for the priesthood and religious life when it was virtually nonexistent.

If anything, they should let Fr. Eric Forbes run the Umatuna. I'm not kidding. The guy knows his history, and anyone who's had the privilege of hearing his homilies knows he's a charismatic speaker, and it shows through his blog entries. A snafu like this would not even occur if he was at least given more than an opportunity to write a column.

But what a shame that strife and pride would get in the way of any of that happening.

What is interesting is that Apuron has never done anything to preserve the legacy of Archbishop Flores. His house in Agana is deteriorating and yet there has been efforts made by The Preservation Trust to purchase the land, exchange the land being that property qualifies to be preserved but nothing has been done by Apuron. I wonder what happen to his books and personal belongings?

To Anon at 10:52, you bring up a great point/question. I myself never made a visit to the short stint of the museum. Also, I don't recall reading about Archbishop Flores' books/personal belongings being preserved there or anywhere for that matter. Perhaps Vangie or others can shed some light on the matter. What is blatantly true is that Tony continues to disregard the legacy of the Most Reverend Felixberto and persistently affronts everyone not affiliated with the NEO-kikobots. Shame is a word not in his already limited vocabulary! Biba Katoliku RIP Most Reverend Archbishop Flores.

Tim, why is it that after 30 years we're still talking about the late Archbishop Flores? Could it be that we know a real shepherd who cares for his sheep? How missed he is, a true shepherd. May he rest in peace.

This current situation with Apuron is extreme and stands out like a sore thumb. It is hard to believe a bishop to be as greedy, selfish, and self centered as this person holding office, perhaps Bishop Flores is a point of reference for us a person with integrity, goodness, honesty, and selfless, all attributes missing with Apuron. The gut wrenching reality is apuron has followers that are loyal to his lies and deceit, and follow along as if nothing hapened at all, all the while the Church is crumbling from within. In the midst of all these crisis apuron still inisit on having his birthday bash to raise money to fund his evil scheme.